First suicide pod to be used ‘soon’ in Switzerland, assisted dying group says
- Pushing a button inside the space-age looking capsule replaces the oxygen inside with nitrogen, causing death by hypoxia
An assisted dying group expects a new portable suicide pod to be used for the first time in Switzerland, potentially within months, to provide death without medical supervision, they said on Wednesday.
The space-age looking Sarco capsule first unveiled in 2019 replaces the oxygen inside of it with nitrogen, causing death by hypoxia.
The recently formed organisation The Last Resort said it saw no legal obstacle to its use in Switzerland, where the law generally allows assisted suicide if the person commits the lethal act themselves.
“Since we have people indeed queuing up, asking to use the Sarco, it’s very likely that it will take place pretty soon. But it’s all I can say,” Last Resort’s chief executive Florian Willet told a press conference.
“I cannot imagine a more beautiful way [to die], of breathing air without oxygen until falling into an eternal sleep,” he added.
The person wishing to die must first pass a psychiatric assessment of their mental capacity – a key legal requirement.